ENGL407: Medieval Women Writers

Unit 1: Medieval Times, Medieval WomenUnit1
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

Describe the Medieval period in social and historical context.

Characterize the intellectual climate of the Middle Ages and explain
the significance of the Fall of the Roman Empire on Medieval
Britain.

Explain the importance of Medieval oral traditions, the rise of
literacy, the culture of chivalry and courtly love, Scholasticism,
and the Church.

Describe the nature of the lives/roles of Medieval wives, virgins,
mothers, and lovers.

Explain the role of the Medieval woman in terms of property
ownership, misogyny, masculinity, feminism, and Medieval concepts of
gender and sexuality.

1.1 An Overview of the Middle Ages and Its Intellectual Climate1.1.1 What Are the Middle Ages?
- Reading: Medieval-Life.Net’s “Medieval European History”
The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion
of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to
fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please
submit it here.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

1.1.4 The Rise in Literacy
- Reading: The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies’
version of Steven Muhlberger’s Medieval England: “Early English
Society”; Fordham University’s Internet Medieval History Sourcebook:
“Accounts of Medieval Literacy and Education, c. 1090-1530”
The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion
of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to
fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please
submit it here.

Instructions: Please read the entire article on “Scholarship in
Women’s Communities” hosted on the University of Southern
California’s website linked here. Also, read New Advent’s short
encyclopedia entry on “scholasticism.”

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

1.1.7 The Predominance of the Church
- Reading: The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies’
version of Steven Muhlberger’s Medieval England: “The Conversion of
Britain” and “The Age of Bede”
Link: The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies’version of
Steven Muhlberger’s Medieval England:“The Conversion of
Britain” (HTML)
and “The Age of
Bede”(HTML)

Instructions: Please read both chapters, “The Conversion of
Britain” and “The Age of Bede,” from the textbook linked here in
their entirety.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

1.2 An Introduction to Medieval Women: Widows, Wives, and Virgins
- Reading: Clark College: Anita Fisher’s “Women in the Early
European Middle Ages”
Link: Clark College: Anita Fisher’s “Women in the Early European
Middle Ages”(HTML)

Instructions: Please note that in order to access the text you
will need to click the link “Women in the Early European Middle
Ages” in the right-hand column (“Lecture Texts”) to download the
file in either PDF or Word format.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: From Heckel’s “Sex, Society, and Medieval Women,”
please read the section titled “Sex and Society,” which includes
sub-sections titled “Virginity,” “Women and Courtly Love,” and
“Prostitution.” Also, please read Susan Udry’s essay on women’s
conduct books linked here, and in particular, please focus on the
mention of virginity and incontinence in the discussion of
appropriate female behavior.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

1.2.2 Marriage and Wifely Duties
- Reading: Minnesota State University, Mankato’s EMuseum: “Daily
Life”: “Marriage and Divorce” and UMILITA.net’s version of Equally
in God’s Image: Women in the Middle Ages: Elizabeth M. Makowski’s
“The Conjugal Debt and Medieval Canon Law”
The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion
of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to
fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please
submit it here.

[Submit Materials](/contribute/)

1.2.3 The Midwife, the Dangers of Childbirth, and Motherhood
- Reading: Minnesota State University, Mankato’s eMuseum: “Daily
Life”: “Children and Schooling”
The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion
of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to
fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please
submit it here.

[Submit Materials](/contribute/)

1.2.4 Women, Land, and Property Ownership
- Reading: University of Houston’s Department of History: Professor
Bob Elhone’s English Legal History Materials: “Chapter IV.A. Women
and the Law: Dower”
Link: University of Houston’s Department of History: Professor Bob
Elhone’s English Legal History Materials:“Chapter IV.A. Women
and the Law: Dower”
(HTML)

Instructions: Please read the short excerpt on medieval law codes
for more information about women’s property laws, or lack thereof.
In particular, please note the mention of women’s property after
marriage.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

1.2.5 Misogyny and the Dangerous, Sinful Woman
- Reading: University of Rochester Libraries’ TEAMS: Kathleen
Forni’s, ed. “The Antifeminist Tradition: Introduction” and Sunshine
for Women: Katherine M. Rogers’ “The Troublesome Helpmate: A History
of Misogyny in Literature”
The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion
of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to
fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please
submit it here.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

1.3 An Introduction to Gender Theories and Feminist Literary
Approaches1.3.1 Literary Feminisms: A Range of Approaches
- Reading: UMILITA.net’s version of Equally in God’s Image: Women in
the Middle Ages: Julia Holloway’s “Introduction: The Body and the
Book”
Link: UMILITA.net’s version of Equally in God’s Image: Women in the
Middle Ages: Julia Holloway’s “Introduction: The Body and the
Book”
(PDF)

Instructions: Please read the introduction to the online textbook,
Equally in God’s Image: Women in the Middle Ages. To access this
essay, scroll past the Table of Contents.

Terms of Use: The linked material above has been reposted by the
kind permission of Julia Bolton Holloway, and can be viewed in its
original form here. Please
note that this material is under copyright and cannot be reproduced
in any capacity without explicit permission from the copyright
holder.

Instructions: Please read the entire entry on Judith Butler linked
here. As you move through the course, please keep Butler’s notion
of gender as performance in mind when reading the female-authored
texts. Also, please scroll down and read the entirety of Halsall’s
explication of sexuality in the Middle Ages as well as Clark’s and
Sponsler’s introduction to the various functions of Medieval gender
as revealed by drama of the period.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: Please read the critical paper linked above for a
modern feminist analysis of medieval studies. Also, please scroll
down and read the entirety of Medieval Studies Catalogue Page’s “New
Titles” to get a sense of the types of recent scholarship emerging
in this area of research.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

The Saylor Foundation does not yet have all materials for this
portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your
content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used
here, please submit it here.
[Submit Materials](/contribute/)